A FAIRYTALE will come to life this weekend as Sleeping Beauty on Ice comes to Southport Theatre.

The touring show, which opened in the resort on Wednesday, has seen the theatre’s stage transformed into an ice rink, where Russian theatrical skating company, the Imperial Ice Stars are wowing audiences with their dazzling displays.

The cast of 25 world-class skaters tell the enchanting tale of a sleeping princess, brought back to life by a kiss from her handsome prince.

Set to a stirring score by Tchaikovsky, the show includes more than 100 lavish costumes, as well as an astonishing array of gymnastics, high-speed throws, lift sequences and fire effects.

The skaters, who have more than 200 competition medals between them, have performed to more than two million people all over the world.

Company members, many of whom have competed in international championships such as the Olympics, rehearsed for two months before the show opened, and now spend two or three hours warming up before each performance.

Vladislav Zhovnirskiy (Prince Desire) a former Junior World Champion pair skater, says he has enjoyed the transition from arena to theatre.

Vladislav said: “It is completely different dancing in a show.

“In professional skating you have no right to make any mistakes. Here, it is not so much about technical skating, it is more about presentation.

“The audiences come to see the story and the fairytale. We now have to be professional artists.

“If you are on stage for a couple of hours you have to be deep in the role and act. I enjoy that.”

Ilya Klimkin, who competed at the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics and won a bronze medal in the European Championships, added: “I love travelling around the world with the show.”

Although the skaters would normally perform the daring moves you see in the show on an ice rink of around 60m by 60m, they refuse to be daunted by the 10m by 11m proportions of the theatre stage, saying they like the intimacy of the venue, and the chance to be closer to the audience.

Elena Yovanovich, who plays Princess Aurora, said: “When you see the audience’s reactions, and you see them clapping and smiling, it gives you encouragement, and you want to do it more and more. Even if you are really tired, you can do more knowing the audience are enjoying it.”